A Tale of Two Tengu: A Japanese Folktale

Two Japanese goblins compete to find out which of their equally lovely, equally long noses is the better and end up sticking them where they do not belong, in an adaptation of a traditional tale

Grade 1-3-Tengu are long-nosed goblins of Japanese mythology and folklore. Here, one such creature makes his nose grow, sending it over seven mountaintops far down into the plains. It is mistaken for a clothes pole by a lord's daughter, so the tengu is the recipient of several fine kimonos when he retracts it. When his friend performs the same feat, his proboscis takes a beating as the lord's son and his friends mistake it for a climbing and swinging pole. Not knowing why he is so sore, and jealous of his friend's luck, he insists that the two of them send their noses forth together. This time, two mysterious "poles" come through the windows of the lord's house, and cannot be subdued until the samurai ties their noses together. They manage to get untangled, escape the lord, but learn a lesson or two. This unverified folktale comes from the author's family tradition and is told with humor and verve, dialogue being particularly crisp. Watercolor illustrations (containing a few anachronisms) are whimsical and appealing. The depiction of the tengu, however, is distinctly un-Japanese with their leprechaun looks, Slavonic clothes, and Turkish shoes. Most peculiar.
John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In this traditional Japanese folktale, McCoy's first children's book, long-nosed goblins called tengu offer up a funny and palatable taste of the art of cooperation. Kenji and Joji, whose expandable probosces can stretch for miles, squabble over whose sniffer is finer. One day Kenji's nose reels in Princess Fumiko's beautiful kimonos; jealous Joji tries to top his friend's catch but his nose is mistaken for a swing by Prince Isao--with painful consequences for all concerned. The contest intensifies as the tengu unfurl their noses again, this time landing in the mansion of Lord Nakamura who, recognizing the kimono-thief and the injurious swing, knots them together. Escape is possible only through close collaboration. "From now on we work together," they vow. Belgian artist Fossey illustrates with a surprisingly consonant blend of Japanese delicacy and a lighthearted European folk art style. Unquestionably Japanese in its prescription for achieving success, this witty retelling will prove germane to innately competitive readers everywhere. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Kenji and Joji are tengu--``goblins with long, lovely noses''--who constantly compete by extending them to huge lengths. While Kenji stays on his mountain, his nose follows a fragrance to Lord Nakamura's mansion, where a princess, thinking the nose is a pole, hangs kimonos on it--as Kenji discovers when he retracts it. When Joji tries the same stunt, the children swing from his nose--and are painfully bumped when he hastily pulls it back. Again, the rivals vie to see ``who snares the best prize,'' but by now Lord Nakamura has a score to settle. His servants tie the mysterious ``poles'' together in a knot--to which the tengu are pulled when they try to snap their noses back. Once disentangled, they agree to be friends--and ``almost never'' argue ``about whose nose is more wonderful.'' Fossey's delicate art, enhanced with brightly appealing color, is an excellent complement to McCoy's lively retelling of a tale that comes from her own childhood tradition. (Folklore/Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 4-8. "Tengu are Japanese goblins with long, lovely noses." The author draws on her grandparents' stories for this comic folktale about two friends who compete to see whose nose is more wonderful. Each goblin sends his nose out like a "wobbling pole" to skim over mountains and flop across plains all the way to the lord's mansion, where it makes mischief--until the goblins get caught in their own trickery. The reversals are funny; the telling is playful and rhythmic, great for reading aloud; and the brightly colored, detailed illustrations in pen and acrylic combine delicacy and farce, stretching those long, wobbling noses across stylized Japanese landscapes and transforming formal ceremonies into uproar. Hazel Rochman